


Exchange

by storiesfortravellers



Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Aftercare, BDSM, Dominance, F/M, Learning to be a Dom, M/M, Multi, Submission, Trust
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-31
Updated: 2013-07-31
Packaged: 2017-12-21 23:59:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/906485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/storiesfortravellers/pseuds/storiesfortravellers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve/Natasha/Clint. Steve is their dom, Clint is a sub, and Natasha switches. </p><p>Steve loves being with them, but sometimes feels like the third man out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Exchange

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings for brief mention of consensual possible noncom roleplaying.

They came as a package deal, both or neither, and Steve had no problem with that. Honestly, he wouldn't have wanted to have to choose.

They had been together a long time now, and he knew what they liked. Clint wanted to be protected, wanted strong arms around him, telling him everything would be okay. Natasha wanted power; she wanted him to hold her so she couldn't move, she wanted to be thrown onto the bed without any chance of resistance. 

Both of them wanted pain. They each had a high pain threshold, and they couldn't be hurt in ways that could affect them on the job, so they trusted Steve to find the right balance of hurt without injury.

Steve loved the role they wanted him to play, the trust and the control both. But he knew that he was still the outsider of the group. It was Natasha-and-Clint. He didn't mind, though. He cherished the friendship between the two of them, and was grateful they let him witness it. 

Natasha was protective of Clint, and it was heartening to see the softer side of her, even if Steve didn't want to say so for fear of being labeled old-fashioned. She comforted Clint after nightmares, made sure he didn't skip meals. And on those rare occasions when Clint was too far gone to safeword, it was Natasha's watchful eye that caught on and warned Steve to stop.

Clint respected Natasha immensely, and accepted everything about her. She would refer to parts of her past sometimes that she wasn't quite ready to share with Steve, and with only a couple of random-seeming words, Clint would know exactly what she was talking about. Clint made her laugh all the time, which very few people could do. Even more fun was when Natasha would make a smartass comment or pull a prank on someone; it didn't happen often but when it did, it was _good_ ; usually, Clint and Steve laughed so hard they nearly fell off their chairs.

In bed, their relationship had a couple variations. Sometimes Steve topped them both. After most scenes, Clint would need much aftercare. Natasha would accept a little but then grow tired of it. 

Sometimes Steve and Natasha worked together to top Clint. Natasha would always hold him after, stroking his hair. Clint didn't need Steve for aftercare if Natasha was taking care of it. Steve wasn't offended; he loved to watch. The two clung to each other like they were wounded, like they were animals huddling on a cold night, but Steve could see that they made each other stronger. Better.

Sometimes, they asked Steve to play hard. It went against his preferences, but as a rule he wanted to give them what they asked for. After a very intense scene, he would give them time to decompress, give their bodies and instincts time to distance the Steve who was hurting them from the Steve that was going to sidle up to them to comfort them almost too close. But he didn't want leave them alone, so he placed them gently on his bed and told them to comfort each other until he joined them.

The first time he did this was the first time they really surprised him in bed. He knew them, knew how they behaved after a scene, knew how they related to each other. He knew that Natasha would reach out to Clint, reassure him, hold him.

Instead, they lay perfectly still for a minute. Steve was about to intervene when Clint reached out to Natasha and pulled her tightly to his chest. She started weeping in his arms and he kissed her forehead, starting singing to her softly, some song in Russian that Steve didn't understand. She clung to him, crying for a long time, while he gently ran a hand up and down her back. After a long time, Clint looked up at Steve and gestured for him to join them.

Natasha smiled at him, almost embarrassed. "I'm okay now," she told Steve. She didn't have to tell Clint; he already knew.

"Was that too much?" Steve asked, concerned.

"It was perfect," Natasha said, and Clint nodded and added, "Just what we needed."

Clint moved then to the other side of Steve's body so that Steve was in the middle and they both cuddled up to him. Steve suspected that it was not so much out of desire as just wanting to make Steve not feel left out. 

It didn't quite work. He still felt like he didn't know the two of them nearly as well as he thought he did. But he was glad to be there with them, and he put an arm around each of them and let their warmth surround him as they lay there, quiet and content.

When Natasha fell asleep, Clint whispered to him, "You know, Natasha's never let anyone but me see her cry." 

Steve thought about this for a moment. About how strong his lovers were, and about how fragile. About how much he underestimated all that they were willing to give him.

"Thank you for telling me," Steve said. He kissed Clint on the head.

"Good night, Steve," Clint said, nuzzling into the crook of Steve's neck.

"'Night."


End file.
